Portland Will Be The Home To A New Arena League Football Team In 2018

It's not just hockey coming to the Cross Insurance Arena in 2018, get ready for some football too! The National Arena League announced on Tuesday that they've chosen Portland, Maine as one of the three cities to get expansion teams for 2018. The new franchise has not chosen a team name but will be part of the forthcoming 2018 schedule.

Portland will join Worcester, Massachusetts and Greensboro, North Carolina as the newest franchises in a league still in its own infancy. The National Arena League was founded in 2016 and its inaugural season this year. The league found it to be successful, and thus, expansions were announced. If the business continues trending upwards, the league plans to add even more franchises in the future.

This is NOT the same arena football that you've probably seen on television channels like ESPN. However, this league does operate under the same concepts. The National Arena League season typically starts in April and shorter than your typical NFL season. All home games for the Portland team will be played at the Cross Insurance Arena.

With the addition of the professional football team, Portland is now home to professional teams in all four major sports.